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Language Shapes Thoughts—and Storm Preparations

Why gendered names of hurricanes may be a bad idea

By

Robert M. Sapolsky

April 22, 2015 11:31 a.m. ET

To state the obvious: What we think influences what we say. Less obvious is the converse: namely, the possibility that the language we speak or our chosen words shape, facilitate or constrain thinking. This question might seem abstract, but it seems to affect—among other things—the public response to hurricane alerts.

Psycholinguists have long focused on the subject of words influencing thoughts. It’s rooted in the question of whether we can think without language. The topic has generated some silly, New Agey views—for example,...